From 2020, the US Department of Defense began to develop and upgrade the Marine Corps, which included the upgrading and refitting of its air defense forces. At present, the US Marine Corps does not have sufficient air defense forces, and the air defense mission is undertaken by the Marine Corps air force or the Navy's fighter planes. In some cases, the anti-aircraft missile systems of the ships of the Navy can cover the Marine Corps units at sea and on the shore.
The land and amphibious detachments of the US Marine Corps have weak air defense capabilities, and the troops are equipped with and use the FIM-92 "Stinger" portable surface-to-air missile system, and can also use small-caliber artillery or large-caliber machine guns on combat vehicles to strike low-altitude targets. The US Marine Corps is in the middle of its formation, and the existing structure and equipment of the air defense forces under the US Marine Corps have long been criticized. The front-line troops strongly demand increasing the number of air defense detachments, developing and equipping them with new weapons and equipment, and building an air defense system that is truly suitable for rapid deployment on the predetermined battlefield. In 2019, the Marine Corps had a total of only 4 companies of Stinger and Avenger systems, and later measures were taken to increase the number of air defense detachments and weapons systems. According to the "Force Design-2030" program proposed by the Marine Corps, the key point of which is to increase the ability of the Marine Corps to deploy and distribute forces. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to raise the overall quantitative indicators of air defense forces. By 2029, it is planned to increase the number of anti-aircraft batteries of the Marine Corps to 15.
The Marine Corps plans to retain the existing "Stinger" and "Avenger" short-range systems. In 2025, the Marine Corps will receive the advanced integrated naval air defense system MADIS. The system is based on two JLTV armored vehicles, one equipped with a 30-mm anti-aircraft gun and a Stinger missile combat module, and the other equipped with an active phased array radar, an electronic countermeasures station and other instruments. Next year, another new type of medium-range interception system, the MRIC, will also be put into service, which is based on the United States' own and Israel's "Iron Dome" air defense and anti-missile system, and will be equipped with "Tamir" interceptor missiles, with an interception range of 70 or 250 kilometers. Missiles are capable of striking targets at all altitudes, and like the Israeli Iron Dome, the American MRIC system is capable of intercepting aerodynamic and ballistic targets.
For decades, the structure and equipment of the air defense detachments of the US Marine Corps have practically not changed, so why are they in a hurry to improve their own air defense now? There is only one reason, because the United States defines China as the only competitive power, and the US military sets the Chinese People's Liberation Army as the main combat opponent. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) will not go to the east and west coasts of the United States to fight the US military, nor will it go to Europe to find fault with the US military, but the US military will definitely go to the West Pacific region to seek death for the third time. Is there a place for the U.S. Marine Corps on China's doorstep? The Americans themselves know very well that the Marine Corps does not even need tanks and has turned into shore-based missile units, which are ready to be used to blockade the two straits at the north and south ends of Taiwan and prevent the PLA's naval and air forces from going out to the east of Taiwan Island to fight face to face. To achieve this, it is imperative to improve one's own protection. However, in the face of the PLA's long, medium, and near, high, medium, and low, all-round, and day-to-day firepower strikes, the US Marine Corps' advanced air defense integrated system and medium-range interception system cannot withstand all of them. There is an ancient Chinese poem for Americans: Die before leaving the school, and the hero will be full of tears. However, it's not a hero to go to someone else's house and interfere in someone else's family affairs and be killed!